If Only They Knew
by chalantness
Summary: Spoilers for 2x10 "Before the Dawn" - Cassie is a lot like him. He knows whatever Black Beetle did to her must've hurt if she was still in pain now.


**Title: **_If Only They Knew  
_**Rating:** PG-13  
**Word Count:** 1,000+  
**Characters:** Conner/Cassie with implied Dick/Barbara  
**Summary:** (Spoilers for 2x10 "Before the Dawn") Cassie is a lot like him. He knows whatever Black Beetle did to her must've _hurt_ if she was still in pain now.

**If Only They Knew**

He watches as Cassie rolls her shoulder tentatively, cautiously, and he feels a twinge of sickness or _something _in his stomach when she winces. Cassie is a lot like him. He knows whatever Black Beetle did to her must've _hurt_ if she was still in pain now.

Barbara walks up to her, placing a hand gently on the back of her chair, and Cassie tilts her head to smile at her. Despite everything, her expression is rather cheerful.

"How is it?" Barbara asks.

Cassie begins to shrug, and then makes a face as she thinks better of it. "It's… healing."

"Maybe we can get something," Nightwing says, standing on Barbara's other side. "Do you need ice?"

Cassie laughs half-heartedly. "I don't think it'll make a difference."

Barbara places her free hand on Nightwing's arm and his expression relaxes considerably as they look at each other, seeming to engage in their own silent exchange. Cassie looks away, turning her attention back to the sea outside the bioship's window, and Conner has a feeling it's mostly out of respect for their privacy or something. He always wondered about those two. Obviously they know each other since – they're both partners of Batman – but Conner always had a _feeling_ there's more. And why did she not wear shades like the boys?

Well, whatever. He's too tired to think about it now, and honestly, something else is kind of bothering him at the moment.

He walks over to where La'gaan is standing behind M'gann's chair as she's staring absently out the window as well. La'gaan noticeably tenses when he sees that Conner is heading in their direction, but Conner isn't really bothered by that right now.

He may not like him, but La'gaan is, in the end, a _good guy_ and one of them. He's part of the Team.

And that makes him worth tolerating.

"Hey, what happened to Cassie?" Conner asks. La'gaan blinks in surprise at the question, and Conner ignores the look that M'gann gives him. "Gar said you were still conscious when she had to take on Black Beetle by herself," he adds. "Were you?"

"Yeah," he answers.

"So you saw what happened to her?" Conner asks.

La'gaan nods. "Black Beetle did a number on her," he explains. "He kept slamming her into the wall until she finally fell unconscious for a few minutes."

"Seriously?"

He nods again, looking over at Cassie. "She's durable, though. She'll be fine," he says simply, like it should be obvious.

And Conner's pretty sure La'gaan means that as praise or a compliment or something, but the word doesn't sit right with him. _Durable_, as if she's a pieceof equipment rather than a person. He narrows his eyes and mutters, "She's not a weapon," under his breath as he walks away.

Cassie lifts her head to meet his eyes as he heads over to her.

"Hey, Conner," she greets, and hearing his name snaps Barbara and Nightwing out of their hushed conversation. Cassie glances at Barbara, then at him, smiles and shakes her head almost in exasperation. He grins at that.

"How do you feel?" Nightwing asks, placing a hand on Conner's shoulder.

Conner shrugs. "I could be better. But I'll be fine."

"Glad to hear that." Barbara lifts her other hand from the back of Cassie's chair and places it so she's holding onto Nightwing's elbow. "Can we talk over there?"

Nightwing arches an eyebrow and Barbara rolls her eyes, telling him to stop being difficult as she's pushing him away. Conner looks at Cassie, who laughs in amusement. It makes him smile. "They make such great detectives," Cassie comments, "but anything outside the field is suddenly too complicated for them to deal with."

He chuckles, taking the empty seat beside her. His eyes fall on her shoulder, half-expecting to find a bruise or something.

But of course there isn't one.

"How's your shoulder?" he asks her.

"It'll be fine." He frowns. "It _will_. There's not much we can do about it, anyway. It'll heal on its own."

"It's a blessing and a curse, huh?" She furrows her eyebrows. "Being so strong," he explains. "You have a higher tolerance for pain, but… you never realize how _much_ everything hurts until it's excruciating. At least, that's how it is for me."

Her eyes soften. "Me too," she exhales. She brings her hand up and gingerly places it over her bad shoulder. "I never notice the pain until after the mission's done."

"And everyone thinks that nothing hurts you," he adds. "But it's not like we're immune, you know? And my head still hurts."

"Well, that monkey suit you're wearing right now probably didn't help," Cassie comments. She reaches up and pushes her fingers into his hair, and for a second he wonders what she's doing, but then he can feel her fingers grazing the back of his head. She's feeling around for a bruise. "Your moves were considerably slower than they usually are."

"I'm usually slow?"

"We're sparring partners, Conner," she laughs, and it sounds fuller now. It sounds more like her. "Trust me when I say that you could use a little more speed."

"You know, I don't have to take this from a rookie."

She scoffs, but there's a smile on her lips that tells him she knows he's just teasing. "It's not my fault you're bulky."

"Because of the muscle," he reminds, "and maybe that's why I can keep you pinned down longer."

"Shut up," she laughs again, shoving at his arm and then letting out a whimper as her hand goes to her bad shoulder again. He creases his eyebrows in concern and she just shakes her head dismissively. "I'll be fine. And as _soon_ as my arm heals, I am _so_ going to make you pay for that comment."

"You can _try_."

She chuckles, shifting in her seat as she leans her weight against him. And he's worried for a minute because he's sitting on the side with her bad shoulder, but then she shifts again to prop her back against him, angling her shoulder so that it's not touching anything.

"I'm sleepy," she exhales, sounding as tired as he feels.

He hums in agreement, careful not to jostle her as he leans back in his seat. Once he's comfortable, he lets his eyes fall closed. He's _exhausted_.

"Conner?"

"Yeah?" he asks.

"You make an awful pillow with that armor on."


End file.
